Heating and Ventilation. An important (and expensive) consideration for any restaurant, either new or existing, is heating and cooling. Restaurant kitchens put out a lot of heat and smells and smoke. Make sure that your commercial range has proper ventilation, with the right kind of hood and fans.

Balancing Seating Capacity. The design of a restaurant should be a balance between a welcoming ambiance and maximum seating capacity. In other words, you want to pack in enough customers to keep busy and turn a profit, while at the same time making guests feel comfortable. Some types of restaurants focus on seating capacity rather than interior design. Diners, for example, have more seating capacity while fine dining restaurants tend to focus more on ambiance.

Ruben prefers a bolder selfie wall: “I see a lot of hotels and restaurants leaning toward eye-catching installations that guests use to memorialize a visit on social media. There’s lots of catchy phrases in neon, heavy patterns in wallpapers, and big bold colorways these days. It’s all super fun for the guest that wants to share their visit and, in turn, great marketing for the restaurant.”

A good interior design can do as much for a cafe, restaurant or bar as good food, drinks and service can. We made this list of establishments to show you some of the best bar, cafe and restaurant designs in the world, and most of them have even won awards for their interiors.